Lagos , Nigeria -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Dozens of people have been killed during two days of clashes between Islamist militants and Nigerian security forces in a northeastern town , an army commander said .

Chief of Army Staff Azubuike Ihejirika said the latest violence in what is a simmering low-level insurgency in Africa 's most populous country left soldiers dead and wounded . The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in the Yobe state town of Damaturu .

`` There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu , '' Ihejirika said Friday . `` We lost three of our soldiers , seven were wounded . But we killed over 50 of their members . ''

That contradicted hospital and morgue workers who said the vast majority of some 50 bodies brought in since Friday were civilians .

An attack on Friday left at least a dozen dead in Maidugiri , in neighboring Borno state , officials and hospital workers said Saturday . Residents said pre-Christmas festivities have been subdued in the city -- largely Muslim with a Christian minority . It is n't clear whether Boko Haram attacked . Residents say the group was involved , but the military has not yet commented .

`` The situation here is very scary -- the worst military confrontation yet , '' said one resident who requested anonymity .

Boko Haram -- which translates from the local Hausa as `` Western education is outlawed -- wants to introduce a strict version of Muslim Sharia law across the 155-million person country . The population is roughly split between Muslims and Christians .

After Boko Haram 's leader was killed in police custody in 2009 , its members began carrying out a campaign of sporadic violence which has been fueled by the military 's iron-fisted approach , experts say .

In August , group carried out its first suicide bombing and attack outside the north of the country when a car bomb claimed 24 lives at the United Nations building in the capital , Abuja .

Observers are also closely monitoring whether the group is forging links with other international terrorist organizations . People claiming to speak on behalf of the group say it draws inspiration from Afghanistan 's Taliban . Some experts say the group has a network that extends across Chad and Mali .

Nigerian security forces have struggled to contain near-daily blasts in the group 's home base states , Yobe and Borno . While the violence has rarely spilled beyond the north , officials and diplomats say the group 's anti-government rhetoric has earned it substantial support from local residents living amid unemployment and poverty levels up to twice the national average .

Activist Shehu Sani , president of Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria , said attempts to broker a cease-fire have been derailed , but he stressed the importance of dialogue . `` On the one hand , Boko Haram can not turn Nigeria into an Islamic state through force . On the other , the Nigerian forces can not crush the group through use of force , '' he told CNN .

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Boko Haram means `` Western education is outlawed '

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A Nigerian commander cited a `` major encounter '' with Boko Haram

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In August , the group carried out a suicide bombing at U.N. headquarters in Abuja